Mums get breastfeeding help from new volunteer team

A hospital has seen a rise in the number of women breastfeeding after volunteer peer supporters started working on its antenatal ward.

They have been offering tips and support on Brancaster Ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn, Norfolk, for the last month.

Ward manager Catherine Hood said the trained volunteers offered "focused support for a prolonged period", which had led to an increase in the number of women still breastfeeding after leaving hospital.

Figures from UNICEF suggest the percentage of new mums breastfeeding in the UK drops from 81% at birth to 24% after six weeks.

The NHS guide to breastfeeding says: "There is a lot of evidence to show how beneficial it is to breastfeed your baby, especially in the early weeks.

"However, it can take time to get the hang of, and there may be reasons why you cannot breastfeed."

The volunteers themselves have had experiences, both good and bad.

They undertake training with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers to help support women who require a hospital stay after birth.

Peer volunteer support co-ordinator Jen Rudd said: "The mums are emotional, they're tired, they've possibly had a long labour or a complicated recovery, and that's where we can step in to really help support that."

Clinical help from medics remains but ward manager Catherine Hood explained the volunteers had more time.

"We know a feed can last up to an hour and, as a volunteer, you can absolutely sit with that mum for that whole hour, which means you can watch a whole feed, and you can amend things along the way.

"As a clinical staff member yes absolutely we want to give the best support to patients but an hour is not always easy to achieve with one patient."

Elizabeth Judge, 33, from Terrington St Clement, is one of the breastfeeding support volunteers.

She has three children, aged 11, six and three, and was able to successfully breastfeed her second and third babies, but she struggled with her first.

She said: "I was really stressed because I was just looking at my baby and I thought, why won't you just feed? What am I doing wrong?"

Elizabeth's experiences have helped her work with mums on the ward.

"I can give them all the time that they want and I think that does really help to just say to them that it's OK, it will be OK."

Breastfeeding rates in King's Lynn are below the national average.

Maternity services at QEH, where 1,700 babies are born every year, are part of a national review into standards.

The hospital was rated as "good" for maternity services by the Care Quality Commission in March 2024.

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